Naruto: Path of Ambition
by Mr. Dusk
Summary: After a chance meeting between Naruto and Kakashi (far earlier than they would have) Kakashi becomes Naruto's legal guardian and prepares him for life as a ninja. As he grows older, Naruto develops an ambition to change the world, and meets those who will either help him on his path or stand in his way.
1. A Chance Meeting

**Warning: **_The following is a non-profit fan-based fictionalization. Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden are owned by Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, and Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release._

**Chapter One: A Chance Meeting**

The eighteen-year-old ANBU Kakashi Hatake was finished with another mission. It was simple enough, go to the Land of Water and investigate the deaths of a group of Konohagakure Tokubetsu Jonin lead by Kumade Toriichi. What Kakashi found was troubling, though he and Sarutobi decided that retaliation against the Hidden Mist would only end in disaster, so they marked the deaths as "KIA by unknown causes" to all but a few selective people. Their bodies were, of course, erased via Cremation Jutsu.

As Kakashi lazily headed for home, he got the feeling that he was being followed. This wasn't uncommon, as it would happen more often than he wished, but what was uncommon was the person who was following him. Kakashi turned around to see a small child who might've been around five, a child he knew all too well. _Oh, why if it isn't Naruto Uzumaki, _the one-eyed ninja thought, _what is he doing here? _Suddenly, the young boy got on his hands and knees, he put his forehead on the ground.

"PLEASE! My name is Naruto Uzumaki! Let me be your apprentice!"

_Well, I wasn't expecting that. _The ANBU shrugged, he turned around and kept walking. Soon enough, the yellow child was right in front of him, "Hey! Aren't you at least going to say something? I want you to be my sensei!"

Kakashi sighed, "I'm not an instructor, if you want to be a ninja you should sign up at the academy."

Hearing this just seemed to make the kid mad, "I tried, but they wouldn't let me join! They said I was too young!"

_Now I know that's a lie. _Kakashi felt bad for the shunned boy, but he felt that training anyone would be too much work than he wanted plus he had personal reasons to especially not want to train the Uzumaki kid. So the silver-haired man did the only rational thing he could think of, and started running away from the child.

**XxXxX**

After getting quite a distance, Kakashi stopped to look if he had gotten rid of his pursuer. Satisfied with an absence of yellow, the ANBU turned for the road home and ran into the boy again who was panting for breath. The child pointed at the cyclops.

"You...train...me..." Naruto gasped out.

Kakashi was impressed, he hadn't even been running that fast yet this kid managed to keep up with him. Impressed, but still didn't feel like offering him training.

With a single jump, Kakashi was on a nearby rooftop. "Fine, but first let's see you get up here." _This will make the kid leave me alone. _

Naruto started grinning, and ran to the side of the building where he started climbing up the wall. _Oh Hell... _the one-eyed ninja put a palm on his face as the young boy got onto the roof.

"How's that?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi had to step up his game if he was going to lose this brat, he nodded, "Good, now, follow me." he said as he jumped to the rooftop next to the one the two were on, sure that the boy wouldn't follow him this time.

Sure enough, the yellow wonder backed up and took a running jump to get across the gap. Kakashi kept running and jumping across the rooftops of Konoha with Naruto in hot pursuit. The former wondering how can the child have the stamina and agility to follow him, but then he remembered that this was no mere child.

**XxXxX**

Somehow, Naruto had chased the ANBU all the way to the Third Training Ground, where the two stopped to catch their breath. Or rather, where Naruto caught his breath, running all the way across the village was simply one of those things you were expected to do as an ANBU, so Kakashi had recovered quickly and Naruto a few minutes after him. After resting up, Kakashi decided to ask the million-ryo question. "So Naruto, why do you want to become a ninja?"

The yellow child beamed at him, "Why? Because I want to be recognized! I want people to look up to me! I'm aiming for the top, I'm gonna become Hokage and then everyone would like me instead of always kicking me around!"

_Hokage? Is this kid serious? _Kakashi knew that the Hokage position was something in the Uzumaki's genes, but he knew he shouldn't talk about that. Instead, Kakashi figured he'd scare Naruto out of becoming a shinobi of the leaf, at least not until he was older. "If you're going to be a ninja, then you have to prove to me that you're serious about it." Kakashi stated.

Naruto nodded, "I'll do whatever it takes!" he exclaimed as he stood up with determination in his eyes eyes and a balled up fist.

"Well then..." Kakashi got up, and shook himself into a fighting stance, "How about you show me how strong you are?"

Naruto didn't have to be asked twice, he jumped back to get into a makeshift fighting stance, Kakashi noted that his stance was way off. Sighing, he reached into his back pouch, and pulled out a book with an orange cover that had the title "Icha Icha Paradise".

"Oi, what's that?" Naruto asked.

"A new book that just came out." Kakashi told him.

"I know that! But why do you have it out?" Naruto yelled.

"It's a handicap, if you can hit me at least once while I read and fight you with one finger, we'll move on to the next lesson." Kakashi opened up his new book that Sarutobi gave him. He held it with his right hand while he opened and closed his left hand as to say "Bring it."

Naruto wasn't as good at fighting as he was at running. Kakashi figured he could end it quickly with just a finger flick, even though he wasn't left-handed, but he wanted to read the first chapter of his new book before that since when was he ever going to find the time for reading? Kakashi got to the fifth page of the story.

"_...in the dead of night, Haru used his lock picks to slowly and carefully break the tumbler lock of the door that kept him from his target's room. Quickly and quietly, Haru approached the bed of the woman he had followed from the tavern, when he got to the bedside-"_

"What the hell?" Kakashi yelled as he was taken aback from what he read, a bit of blood coming out of his nose. This gave Naruto the opening he needed as he landed a mediocre blow to the ANBU's ribs.

"Yes! I did it!" the yellow child cheered.

Kakashi wasn't amused, "You got a cheap shot in while I was distracted." the older ninja retorted.

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "Well yeah, isn't that what being a ninja is all about?"

_Damn this kid is sharp. _Kakashi regained his composure, he was willing to try out one last thing before admitting defeat. He put the orange book away but made a note to read it when he got into the privacy of his own home. "Okay then Naruto, it's time for the final test. When I say 'dodge', you need to dodge, understand?"

Naruto nodded, grinning.

"DODGE!" Kakashi threw blunt shuriken and kunai (that he kept to bluff enemies) at Naruto. The boy managing to dodge most of them, the ones that hit him served little to slow him down let alone stop him.

**XxXxX**

The blunted weapons continued to be thrown until Kakashi had ran out. After that, Kakashi noted that Naruto had managed to dodge thirty-six out of fifty attacks, and when he did get hit, he still kept going, and now he was taking a well-deserved rest against a tree as Kakashi stood over him.

Seeing that the boy had no intention on giving up, and would probably take anything Kakashi could throw at him, the one-eyed man finally caved in. "Okay, fine, I'll be your sensei..." Kakashi stopped Naruto from bursting out in cheer, "But first answer me this, why do you want to have the Hokage's position? It's a lot of hard work getting there. First you'll have to pass the academy, then you have to prove your worth by completing missions as a genin, then take the chunin exams, complete missions as a chunin, take the jonin exams, complete the most difficult missions you'll be getting thus far, and then even after working so hard, you'll only be in a position where you _might_ be considered to become Hokage."

Naruto looked at his new sensei with fierce determination burning in his bright blue eyes, "Then I'll work hard! I'll train my ass off if I have to! I'm going to surpass every Hokage of past generations! Then everyone would have to treat me with respect!"

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, closing his eye, "If it's only for getting respect, then you shouldn't waste your time."

The look of Naruto's face changed from determined to confused.

"I'll let you know that even if you do work that hard, even if you do become Hokage, there will still be people who will shun you. Maybe even plot behind you to start a coup, it's happened before to past Hokage, we suspect there's even one forming with plans on getting rid of the Third."

Naruto kept quiet as he let this knowledge sink in, Kakashi thought about what to say next.

"You should also remember that I won't always be there to help you." the masked man finally said, looking away at something in the distance.

"What do you mean?" Naruto stood up as his new sensei started walking to one of the sides of the field to a dignified and well kept stone monument with a bunch of names etched onto it.

"You may not fully realize this now, but you will sooner or later. The path of the ninja is filled with death, and I'm no exception to it."

Naruto saw the sadness in the jonin's eye.

"I've lost many of my precious people in the line of duty. My father, my sensei, my friends and allies, even my biggest rivals that I had the utmost respect for. The harsh truth, Naruto, is that death, in the end, is all that awaits a ninja. This is why many drop out of the academy, why many don't make it too far as ninja."

The two stood in silence for what seemed like hours. The young Naruto closed his eyes as he let the awful truth mull over in his mind. A very still and very awkward silence filled the air, it was so quiet that even the smallest noises of the nearby forests were louder in comparison. That, and Naruto's stomach, which reminded him that working incredibly hard for an afternoon made him very hungry.

It made Kakashi chuckle, much to the young boy's surprise. "Well, I suppose a small celebration is in order. How about we go get some dinner? My treat." It was hard to tell with the mask, but Naruto felt that Kakashi was smiling at him, and quickly accepted his offer.

"Can we go to this ramen place I know? They don't throw me out like most of the other places." Naruto pleaded.

"Sure, wherever you like." Kakashi said as the two walked back to Konoha.

**XxXxX**

The next day during the afternoon, Kakashi returned to the Hokage's office to tell Sarutobi about him accepting to be Naruto's sensei, but it seemed that the Third had already known about this decision.

"So, you wish to prepare Naruto Uzumaki for when he becomes a ninja of Konoha?" was the first thing Sarutobi said when Kakashi entered the office. He was first confused, but then remembered that the Third often used a special jutsu with a crystal ball he kept near him to keep track of several people of interest, Naruto among them.

"He shows promise for a child, I gave him a difficult time and yet he still wanted to be trained by me. That kind of student only comes once, maybe twice in a lifetime..." Kakashi shrugged, "I thought about your offer to become a jonin-sensei, so maybe I'd have the Uzumaki kid as a trial run."

Sarutobi smiled a bit, but then returned to his stern look. "Kakashi, it is pleasing to know that Naruto would be trained by one of our finest shinobi, but I wish to ask if you would like to take it a step further."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

The Third gave a heavy sigh as he shook his head, "As you know, many of the village despise the Uzumaki child, all for the very reason our village still survives today. Finding the child a permanent home has become nigh impossible, and now even one of Konoha's own orphanages, one I have personally selected as I hoped it would give him the best chance, has decided to throw Naruto out on the street."

Kakashi's eye opened fully, in a bit of surprise, "What happened?"

Sarutobi shook his head, "Earlier today, the foster parents whom I put in Naruto's care came to me with news that Naruto would start fights with the other children, and that they couldn't have the other children near the violent fox-demon that was responsible for slaughtering their birth parents."

"Start fights? Naruto? But he can barely fight himself. " Kakashi was skeptical.

"I did not see it myself, so I do not know for sure. The bottom line is that Naruto has become homeless. He needs a home..."

Kakashi looked down, not wanting to look into the Third's eyes, "I...I don't...I don't think that I should be the one to look after him." he finally said.

"...is this because of what happened to Obito and Rin?"

Kakashi stayed silent. The memories of his fallen comrades flooding into his mind.

"Kakashi, you know that Minato never blamed you for what happened. He knew that the circumstances both times were far beyond your control, and if anything he blamed himself."

"I was in charge, I had responsibility for my teammates' lives and I-"

"Kakashi."

Looking up, he saw that the Third's eyes had a mixture of calm composure, sadness, understanding, and regret.

"I am not going to force you, Kakashi. I am well prepared to give Naruto his own living quarters if you do not wish to provide him with one, but you and I both know that it would be difficult for such a troubled child to grow up without guidance. Instead, I am only going to ask you to do this for me, and if you cannot do this for me, then do this for Minato...and if you cannot do this for him, I will understand."

Kakashi closed his eye as he thought long and hard about this.

**XxXxX**

Outside of the Hokage's office, and the academy itself, Naruto sat alone on a swing that was under the shade of a tree. He was upset. Upset at those bullies that hurt him and that girl the other day, upset at the people from the orphanage who called him a monster just as much as everyone else in the village, and upset at himself for somehow making pretty much everyone in Konohagakure hate his guts, and now that he knew that being the Hokage might not change a thing. He had no idea what to do anymore, and wondered where he'd be sleeping tonight since now he didn't even have a place to go to.

Naruto heard one of the doors to the academy, the one that lead to where he was sitting to be precise, open and close. He heard footsteps coming from the door heading towards him, and figured it was someone coming to yell at him to get away from the academy. Naruto was about to get off the swing when he looked up and saw the masked man he met the previous day.

Kakashi gave the young boy an eye-smile, and outstretched his hand towards him. "Come along, let's go home."


	2. Progressing

**Warning: **_The following is a non-profit fan-based fictionalization. Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden are owned by Shueisha, Studio Pierrot, and Masashi Kishimoto. Please support the official release._

_Aside from that, wow, I didn't really expect good feedback after posting the first chapter. Well, it got me motivated and here's a chapter that's twice as long as the first._

**Chapter Two: Progressing**

It had been a month since Naruto Uzumaki started his training with his new sensei and legal guardian Kakashi Hatake.

They had gotten into a routine where the two would work on Naruto's speed, strength, and stamina, through physical exercise, and found time to study with textbooks Kakashi "borrowed" from the academy along with lessons from Kakashi himself. They would almost always be at the Third Training Ground, as it was Kakashi's and soon Naruto's favorite training area. They would both arrive each morning, and pay their respects to those who had died for Konoha at the memorial stone before training.

Naruto didn't know many ninjutsu techniques yet, though he managed to create a substandard clone that he learned from watching the Academy students perform the clone technique. Any ninjutsu would be hard to teach Naruto as Kakashi and Sarutobi both knew that the boy's own chakra was mixed with part of the Nine-Tails' chakra, and using it may be too much for the small boy to handle. That would have to come later, after the other important lessons that would be used to build up chakra and control chakra flow to use such techniques. The training for the child was brutal, but Naruto was improving more each day.

But they weren't able to train together everyday, as Kakashi had to go on missions once in a while as an ANBU operative. On days alone, Naruto was meant to read the textbooks and go through standard exercises on his own. On one such day that Naruto was training alone, he felt that someone was watching him.

Detecting presences was one of the more pivotal things to a ninja that Naruto had worked on with Kakashi, but he wasn't too good at it yet. It wasn't needed too much this time, as the peeping girl was shaking and making a bit of noise. In a swift movement, the yellow boy managed to vanish from the small girl's vision.

"Are you spying on me?" came the voice of the Uzumaki child from behind, it made the girl in the white kimono jump and fall over in a small "eep" sound. Feeling guilty, Naruto quickly helped the girl up, "I'm sorry! Are you hurt?" The girl was a bit smaller than Naruto, she had dark black hair, white eyes, and trembling lips. The warning signs were all over her face, and soon enough there would be yelling or hitting or something befalling the boy.

"Oh, I'm sorry," came the soft, nearly shaking voice of the girl. She had gotten up, and formally bowed to Naruto, "I-I didn't mean to disturb you, Naruto-kun."

The yellow boy started to get a bit embarrassed, nobody had ever apologized or spoke formally to him before, and he felt like he should know this girl. But being caught up in training for the past month seemed to muddle his memory, and so he had no idea who this girl was. Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Uh...it's okay. Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"Um, I, well uh..." the girl was pushing her pointer fingers together.

"Did I do something wrong? That happens sometimes and people chase me around with knives and stuff-"

"No, no! I just um, I wanted to thank you for the other day Naruto-kun..." the white-eyed girl's voice trailed off.

"Thank...me?" Naruto was confused as nobody had ever thanked him before either.

Whenever the young boy ever found himself in a position where normally a child would be thanked, like picking something up that someone dropped for example, Naruto would be met with hostility. He would be accused of stealing the item another dropped. Though, this girl's thanks seemed genuine, and Naruto wasn't too sure how to respond.

"Well, you're welcome. But I'm not sure what I did." the yellow boy said bluntly.

The girl had her head down and muttered to herself.

"What?" Naruto asked.

The girl hid her face, "Sorry, it's been a while, and you've been very busy lately, working hard every day and all..."

The realization then dawned over the yellow boy, "Wait, you were watching me?"

If the girl's face wasn't red before, it sure was now. A bit of smoke came out of her head as she froze up.

"Well it's about time you found that out." Naruto and the girl looked up in surprise at Kakashi in a tree who had just returned from a mission, giving his trademarked eye-smile.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're back!" Naruto's smile then faded, "Wait, you knew we were being watched?"

"It's not like I earned my current rank for nothing." the ANBU joked, he jumped down to the two and motion towards the girl, "Naruto, this is the heir to the Hyuuga clan, Hinata."

Naruto looked towards Hinata who stayed silent, and started pushing her fingers together again. Naruto looked back to Kakashi, "Hyuuga?"

Kakashi's eye opened half-way, "Naruto, remember when we talked about the village's history? About the four noble houses? Don't tell me you forgot..."

Naruto shook his head, "No, it's just that their part of the village is all the way over there." Naruto pointed towards Konoha, "And I thought you said they mostly kept to themselves."

"They do, I wondered about that too." Kakashi crouched down next to the girl, "So tell me, what's the heir to the prestigious Hyuuga clan doing so far away from home?"

The girl shook a bit more and she started stammering something.

Kakashi gave another eye-smile, "It's okay, you're not in any trouble. I'm just curious."

Hinata seemed to calm down at that, "I-I umm..."

"_Lady Hinata! Is that you?"_

The three turned to see a member of the Hyuuga clan (judging from his black kimono and white eyes) running towards them. He stopped when he got near the three to catch his breath.

"Lady...Hinata...you know better than to...huh?" the Hyuuga man noticed Naruto, and had his mouth agape.

"Oi mister, you okay?" Naruto asked.

The Hyuuga took Hinata by the hand, "I thought I told you that you shouldn't go near that boy! Come along now, we're going home."

The two Hyuuga left, the elder member practically dragging the girl away who looked as though she was going to cry. It wasn't too long until the two were back into Konoha and out of sight.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi looked down at Naruto, his eyes were sad, "Why does everyone hate me?"

Kakashi put an arm around the boy, "Not _everyone_ hates you, Naruto."

Naruto looked down at his feet, "I know not _everyone_, there's you and the old man helps me out, plus those nice people at Ichiraku's. But what about everyone else? What did I do to make everyone mad at me?"

Kakashi tried to think on what to tell him, "Well..."

"Does it have to do with my birthday?" Naruto was looking back up at Kakashi.

Kakashi's eye opened fully in surprise, "Huh?"

"Mostly everyone just yells or glare at me, but the worst ones show up when it's my birthday. I have to run... a lot. They call me things like 'fox' or 'demon'. Is it because of my face?" the yellow boy pointed at the whisker-like marks on his face.

The masked man surprised the boy by putting hands on his shoulders, "Listen to me Naruto, you didn't do anything wrong. People are like that because something happened a while ago, and they feel like they need to blame someone."

"But why me?"

Kakashi took a deep breath, "It's complicated, I'll tell you one day but for now you'll just have to trust me. Do you trust me?"

The yellow boy nodded. The silver-haired man let go and stood up.

"Good, now how about we go get some early dinner? It looks like you've been busy all day."

Naruto's eyes lit up, "Can we get some ramen?"

Kakashi chuckled a bit, "Is that all you want to eat? Ramen?"

The boy smiled and nodded.

**XxXxX**

A bit before Kakashi showed up at the training ground that day, he was being debriefed from his recent mission and the Third offered a sealed envelope to him.

"Kakashi, these funds are to assist Naruto's upbringing. I trust you'll utilize them to the best of your judgment."

Kakashi looked blankly at the envelope, "No offense Lord Hokage, but I don't believe I'll need it. I already make more than enough by myself."

"Oh, but I insist Kakashi. After all..." Sarutobi quickly performed an advanced noise cancellation genjutsu around himself and Kakashi, "...this is his inheritance."

Kakashi looked back at the envelope, "This is from Minato? Shouldn't there be a lot more?"

The Third Hokage closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Kakashi, there's something you need to know, but this conversation cannot leave this room. Do you understand me?"

Kakashi nodded, Sarutobi opened his eyes.

"First and foremost, what does the public know about the Fourth Hokage?" he asked.

Kakashi recalled his sensei's dossier, "Minato Namikaze, born from an unknown clan with possible origins from the Land of Wind, although that's unconfirmed. Not much is known about his parents..."

"They both passed during the Second Shinobi War, his father while on the front lines and his mother while giving birth."

"Minato grew up in Konohagakure and attended Konoha's Ninja Academy where he was recognized as a prodigy. After graduating at an early age, he was put on a genin team led by the Sannin Jiraiya who made him his protege. Later, Minato would have his own team..." Kakashi's voice trailed off.

"Let's just skip ahead, what is known about him before his death?"

Kakashi regained his composure, "Minato had become the Fourth Hokage, sparking a bit of controversy from some of the clan heads given Minato's clanless background and his young age. Not long after that, the Nine-Tails attacked Konoha and the Fourth Hokage stopped it by sealing the Nine-Tails into a newborn child, but gave his life to do so."

Sarutobi nodded, "Very good Kakashi. So tell me, what's missing from that information?"

"The part where Minato had a son, that part wasn't released to the public. I only really knew that because Minato would tell me about Kushina Uzumaki, then later a kid named Naruto Uzumaki would show up looking a lot like Minato. Wasn't too hard for me to figure it out."

"Indeed. As of now, that fact is only known to a small number of people, and is meant to be kept hidden."

"I assume you have a good reason?"

"Kakashi, you of all people must know that Minato made plenty of enemies during the Third Shinobi War, outside and even a few _inside _the village. To the majority of them, their grudges against him died when he did or shifted to Konoha itself. What do you suppose might happen to Naruto when the very same people find out that he is the son of Konoha's Yellow Flash?"

Kakashi thought on this, "Well, Naruto is already in a bad situation..."

"The worst possible scenario is that Naruto would be abducted, and made to serve another village. We cannot have that."

Kakashi nodded, "I see, so to cover up Naruto's lineage, you're giving Minato's finances to me using the adoption as an excuse?"

"Yes, and no."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow.

The Third cleared his throat, "When the Fourth Hokage died, his finances went right to Konohagakure's government."

Kakashi's eyebrow stayed raised, "All of it?"

Sarutobi nodded, "With no next of kin and no will to his name, there was nowhere else for it to go."

Kakashi looked back to the envelope, "So, this?"

The Third offered the envelope again, "This is but a small fraction, another will come in a month's time. Unfortunately I cannot provide the whole, not without drawing attention."

Kakashi nodded, and accepted the envelope.

**XxXxX**

"Okay Naruto, are you ready for my test?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto smiled, "I'm ready for anything!"

It was a few months later, and Kakashi figured he should quiz Naruto on what he had learned thus far. The two were in the middle of the Third Training Ground, and Naruto looked ready for any crazy thing Kakashi had planned. Kakashi himself was giving Naruto an eye-smile, and pulled out a piece of paper.

Naruto was confused, "What's that?"

"Your test." Kakashi told him, not changing his expression.

The yellow boy's jaw dropped, "You didn't say it was going to be a written one!"

"True, but I didn't say it was going to be a physical one either."

"Then why did you wake me up so early and brought us out here? We skipped breakfast! I didn't even study for this!" Naruto complained.

"Naruto, I thought you were ready for anything?"

"I-"

"Naruto, remember, a ninja is prepared for _anything_."

The one-eyed ninja handed Naruto the test and a pencil, and got out a folding table and chair for him to use. Naruto reluctantly took his seat and got to work on the test.

"Don't forget to write your name on it." Kakashi teased.

"Hey, that only happened once, you jerk!" Naruto yelled.

**XxXxX**

The morning after the surprise test, Kakashi found himself covered in orange paint. The ANBU walked through the apartment he had since moved into after taking Naruto under his care (The single-room apartment he had before was much too small for two people) to Naruto's room. He opened up the door to where he was greeted to another trap. As Kakashi removed the bowl of cold ramen from his head, he caught the sight of Naruto laughing at him.

Kakashi looked right into Naruto's eyes, "Not going to ask. Don't need to ask. You set this all up." he said evenly.

Naruto kept his grin, "Well, yeah. Isn't it obvious?"

"Given that orange is your favorite color and ramen is your favorite food..."

"Still, got ya good, didn't I?"

"Not as good as you could have."

The yellow boy stopped laughing, he looked at his legal guardian in confusion, "What do you mean?"

The sliver-haired man pointed at the mess on his clothes and hair, "I mean, this is all amateur work. A real prankster knows to make sure he or she can never be found out."

Naruto was doubtful, "Really?"

"Especially one trying to become a ninja, setting up traps that the enemy can't track back to you is a very useful skill. Do you like setting up traps?"

Naruto nodded with a smile, "So, does this mean you're not mad at me?"

Kakashi gave an eye-smile, "Oh, I didn't say I wasn't mad."

Kakashi opened his eye to reveal what he called his "evil-eye". Naruto fell onto the floor, and Kakashi got close to Naruto and whispered in his ear.

"You do realize, this means WAR."

**XxXxX**

More months pass, and Kakashi and Naruto were done for the day at the Third Training Area.

"Good work today Naruto, you'll be throwing your shuriken like a pro in no time." said Kakashi.

The yellow boy was pouting, "Kakashi-sensei, when are you gonna show me some real ninjutsu?"

The one-eyed ninja ruffled the boy's hair, "I told you Naruto, not until you can master your chakra control. Remember, what we did with the leaf?"

"But that's boring..."

"And difficult, but if you can master it you- huh?"

The two noticed a single kunai hitting the ground near them.

"An attack?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi sighed, "No..."

"_DYNAMIC ENTRY!"_

A man taller than Kakashi with bushy eyebrows and a bowl cut wearing green spandex and a flak jacket flung himself at Kakashi who dodged his punch. The two proceeded to exchange kicks and punches while running all over the training field with Naruto watching in awe.

At one point, the taller man flung Kakashi right into the ground. The man landed with a smile, but then a hand sprung up from under the ground and pulled him under. Kakashi got out of the ground and the man with bushy eyebrows was now stuck with only his head exposed.

"Looks like I win again." Kakashi said bluntly.

"Damn you Kakashi! I almost had you this time!" the man yelled.

"Kakashi-sensei, who's this?" asked Naruto.

The man with bushy brows smiled brightly at the boy, "Allow me to introduce myself! I am THE taijutsu master of Konoha! I am Konoha's Sublime Green Beast of Prey! I am-"

"His name is Maito Gai, he's a jounin ninja and thinks that I'm his sworn rival or something ridiculous like that." Kakashi told Naruto.

"HEY! DON'T INTERRUPT ME!" Gai yelled.

Kakashi crouched down to Gai's head, "Gai, I thought I asked you not to attack me when I'm training Naruto. It could be dangerous for everyone involved."

Gai dug himself out of the ground, and started to laugh a bit, "Sorry Kakashi, but this time I didn't show up just for a fight. I got something to show you and the kid."

Kakashi's eye bulged out in horror, "Oh. God. No. You didn't..."

Gai just kept his blinding smile and hand on his hips, "I sure did, Kakashi!"

"Did what?" Naruto asked, Kakashi had his face in his palm and was shaking his head.

"Well, a while back..."

**XxXxX**

A while ago, after a mission, Kakashi and Gai were at an all-you-can-eat barbecue restaurant where they had one of their legendary eating contests. The contest resulted in a tie as the restaurant owner begged them to stop before they ate all the meat in the shop.

As Kakashi and Gai rested, they got to talking about what they've been up to when not on missions and Naruto's upbringing came up. It led to the following conversation.

"I bet could be a better parent than you ever could, Kakashi!" claimed Gai.

Kakashi rolled his eye, "Good luck, it's not as easy as it sounds."

"I accept your challenge!"

"That wasn't a- you know, forget it."

**XxXxX**

"Gai, I wasn't serious when I said that!" Kakashi reminded Gai.

"Yes, I know, but I went along with it anyway! Gai turned his head back, "Okay! You two can come out now!"

Kakashi and Naruto watched as two kids came out of the brush. One was a young boy with hair in a single braid, bushy brows, and a white Chinese-style shirt with black Chinese-style pants. The other was a young girl with two hair buns and a red Chinese-style dress and pants. Both looked to be about a year older than Naruto.

"Kakashi and Naruto, I present to you: Rock Lee and Tenten!"

Kakashi couldn't believe his eye, "...two?" he asked.

"Yep! I believe that raising two kids instead of one will prove me the superior father-figure!"

A huge sweat drop formed on the back of Kakashi's head, "I'm not an expert on this, but I don't think that's how it works. Where did you find these kids anyway?"

"I simply went into one of Konoha's orphanages and shouted 'WHO WANTS TO BECOME A NINJA?' and these two lined right up! But it sure took some time for the paperwork to go through..."

Kakashi rolled his eye, "I can't imagine why..."

The two kids walked over towards the two adults and Naruto.

Naruto ran up to them, "You guys wanna be ninjas too?" he asked.

The one named Rock Lee smiled and nodded, "Yeah! I'm gonna become a great ninja one day!" he proclaimed.

The one named Tenten had her hands on her hips, "Don't forget about me, I'm going to be as great as Lady Tsunade."

"Isn't she one of the Sannin?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

The yellow boy shook his head, "No, I think it's great! I've got a pretty high ambition too."

"What is it?" asked the boy with bushy brows.

Naruto beamed and pointed at himself with his thumb, "I'm going to become the Hokage some day!"

There was a bit of an awkward silence, and Naruto figured that soon he would be laughed at again. But the other two kids just smiled back at him.

"Cool!" came out of Rock Lee's mouth.

"That's gonna be way tougher than becoming a Sannin, sure you're up for it, kid?" asked the girl with the hair buns.

"Of course I'm up for it! And don't call me a kid! I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

The three children started to talk among themselves while the two adults watched.

Gai gave Kakashi a pat on the back, "That boy of yours has got it, Kakashi! The spirit of youth!"

Kakashi shrugged, "Yeah, I suppose you're right. For once."

**XxXxX**

"Itachi did all of this?" Kakashi asked, wearing his dog-like ANBU mask.

An ANBU operative wearing a cat-like mask nodded, "I couldn't believe it either when I first heard."

The two were in the middle of the Uchiha compound in the dead of night. The place was a wreck, dead bodies were still being collected. Almost all of the Uchiha clan were accounted for, with only two missing: Itachi and his younger brother Sasuke.

Kakashi was shaking his head, "I mean, I know that Itachi is powerful...but his whole clan? On his own?"

"We're not entirely sure if he worked alone or not...and that's what scares me."

"_We've found a live one!"_

Kakashi and the other ANBU turned to see another ANBU (this time wearing a mouse-like mask) run out of the forest, carrying a young unconscious boy with long black hair.

"Quick! Get him to a hospital! He may be the only one left!" yelled the one in the cat mask.

The one in the mouse mask nodded and ran for the nearest hospital.

Kakashi sighed, he didn't know if he would be able to handle Itachi on his own if he found him. This night wasn't going to be easy, that much was obvious.

**XxXxX**

One day, Kakashi found out that due to some complaints from parents about children going into Konoha's ninja program at such a young age, the Konohagakure government decided to set an age limit of entry into the Academy at no less than eight years old. Kakashi didn't really know what to think of it, but Sarutobi told him that it may be for the better.

**XxXxX**

Naruto had never really celebrated much on his birthday. Through what he believed was pure bad luck, it was on the same day as the anniversary of the village being attacked by the Nine-Tailed Fox. Most of the people in Konoha were never happy about it, especially with him. Although, having Kakashi, Gai, Lee, and Tenten surprise him with a party was a welcomed change.

**XxXxX**

Just as Kakashi and Gai would have contests on the spot, Naruto, Lee, and Tenten would often compete against each other when they were training.

While sparring, Lee hit harder and faster but Naruto was able to take a lot of hits before going down, Tenten was somewhere in the middle, being able to take more hits than Lee and a being a bit stronger than Naruto.

When it came to using weapons such as shuriken or kunai, Tenten was able to hit the most targets. Naruto was a close runner up, but he could never hit all the targets in time like Tenten could. Lee on the other hand wasn't too good at hitting targets as he would always throw his tool too hard or too fast as he couldn't pace himself too well.

Where Naruto really shined was his ability to think on the fly to come up with strategy and tactics whenever the three played a "Survival Game" where they would try to capture one another in a free-for-all match using non-lethal means. With prodding from Kakashi, Naruto learned basic traps such as snares and pits, and more often than not, Lee and Tenten would be caught in them. Naruto was also much better at hiding and covering his tracks. When asked how Naruto got so good at such things, he simply told the other two that when you got most of the village population hating your guts, you _need _to be able to think quick and come up with places to hide and to run to.

The only thing the three of them weren't able to do as of yet was using chakra. Naruto still hadn't been able to control his large quantity of chakra too well, even with Kakashi's instruction over the years. With Lee it was the opposite problem, he simply didn't have much chakra to begin with. Gai and Kakashi discussed that it may take years for Lee to build up his reserves to the point where they would be useful. When they told Lee this, he didn't seem to care. The boy with bushy eyebrows was dead set on becoming a ninja, even if he couldn't use chakra. Tenten was the only one of the three that could control her chakra. Although while her hands were good for weapons, they weren't too good for making the hand signs. She blamed it on her muscle memory, as Tenten had a certain way of throwing ninja tools.

**XxXxX**

At times when the three kids weren't training and the two adults were out on missions, they would normally be found playing together as kids tended to do. Sometimes they'd get mischievous and pull pranks on either adults of Konoha who yelled at them (but mostly Naruto) or children of Konoha who teased them (but mostly Naruto). The pranks they pulled were so well put together that nobody could prove who pulled them. The three were often blamed for them (but mostly Naruto), but they never got in trouble as nobody could truly prove that they were responsible for anything.

Kakashi figured out it was them though, and told Naruto that it was fine but if anybody got hurt again, like in the infamous 'Ramen Accident' Naruto did all on his own, Kakashi would ban the child from Ichiraku's indefinitely.

Sometimes the three would try to include other kids, like the Hinata girl who would get caught following Naruto around, but she was always taken back to the Hyuuga compound by one of her caretakers. Then there was the Sasuke Uchiha kid down by the pond who just wanted to be left alone. Other kids were harder to come by, as children from ninja clans often stayed within their area of Konoha and civilian children either flat out avoided Naruto altogether, glared at him almost the same way their parents did, or at rare times they would call him "fox-face" which drew a lot of unwanted attention to the yellow boy.

Rock Lee and Tenten seemed to get a mild version of the treatment Naruto received as they associated with him, though they didn't mind. The two came to like being around Naruto, and saw him as a younger brother. Kakashi noted that there was something about the kid that drew people to him, at least when they got to know him. The fact that Naruto carried the Nine-Tails was at times forgotten by the one-eyed ninja.

**XxXxX**

Soon enough, three years had passed since the two had met, and it was time for the now eight-year-old Naruto to enter Konoha's Ninja Academy like Rock Lee and Tenten before him, and the now twenty-one-year-old Kakashi couldn't be any prouder. Most of the fundamentals of being a shinobi of the Leaf were drilled into the yellow boy, but there was still much for him to learn. Before he would leave though, Kakashi gave Naruto a little pep talk.

"Okay Naruto, what are the rules for when you get to the Academy?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto listed them off with his fingers, "Try not to show off, don't start any fights, write down things I don't understand so I can ask you later, don't interrupt the class, and don't pull a prank like the 'Ramen Accident' ever again."

"I'm serious on that last one Naruto. Pulling harmless pranks is one thing, but nearly hospitalizing an innocent bystander is another. Even if _that_ was an accident."

The boy's face was full of regret, "I really didn't think he'd do _that_ Kakashi-sensei."

"Well remember, we ninja have to be prepared for the unexpected. Like the 'Uchiha Incident', remember that?"

Naruto quietly nodded.

"I checked ahead, Sasuke Uchiha is going to be in your class. I won't say you should treat him any different, but if he does anything that seems off to you, just try to ignore it."

"Okay."

"If there's ever any trouble, remember that your friends Rock Lee and Tenten are there if you need help. You be sure to tell me if there's anything wrong as well."

"I got it, Kakashi-sensei."

"And Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

The silver-haired man wrapped his arms around the boy he had sworn to raise, "I believe in you, be good."

When Naruto was released, the two said their goodbyes and Naruto left for the Academy. Kakashi got out the orange book he had read over a dozen times and set to read it again after watching Naruto run towards the Academy from a window.

"You know, I think things will turn out all right."


End file.
